Ruffalo Urges Bonta to Reject Paramount-Warner Settlement

Mark Ruffalo posted on X telling California Attorney General Rob Bonta not to settle the antitrust lawsuit 12 state attorneys general brought against Paramount Skydance’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, valued at roughly $111 billion. The posts followed a Wall Street Journal report that Paramount and the states are in advanced settlement talks. The Justice Department cleared the merger in June 2026; the states sued on July 13. Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín issued and extended a temporary restraining order in July, and Paramount agreed July 24 to pause closing until the court rules. Trial is set for March 2027 in Oakland. Ruffalo cited 5,670 filmmakers and more than 75,000 petition signatures against conceding. Ruffalo wrote that Bonta works for people who would be hurt by a “lousy deal filled with empty promises” and urged the public to tell attorneys general and Paramount to reject the deal. At the July 13 announcement, Bonta said the merger would snuff out competition, drive up prices, diminish content quality and produce fewer movies and shows. A separate Writers Guild of America lawsuit also challenges the merger. Paramount’s spokesperson said Ruffalo invoked antisemitic tropes in remarks about the Ellison family’s Israel ties and that words like genocide and apartheid applied to a corporate transaction cheapen real suffering; Ruffalo replied that the antisemitism accusation is appalling and fundamentally dishonest. Whether the states settle or go to trial is unresolved.